The last time these National League heavyweights met in the postseason, Chipper Jones was in his 20s, Mike Matheny was the Cardinals’ catcher and Rafael Furcal led off for the Braves.

But the biggest differences between 2000 and 2012: Both teams then were division champions and they played a best-of-5 series. With the new playoff format, this series will end the same day it starts for these two wild cards.

Deciding who has the upper hand in the one-and-done wild card game is easy. The Braves have two notable advantages: They are at home and they have the NL’s hottest starter, Kris Medlen. The Cardinals, however, proved last year that they don’t mind being the underdogs.

KEYS FOR THE CARDINALS

1. Rookie manager. Matheny didn’t play in the Cardinals’ sweep of the Braves in 2000 because he sliced a hand on a hunting knife before the series. He already has played a major role this time around by naming Kyle Lohse to start over Adam Wainwright.

Although Lohse deserves the call after going a career-best 16-3 with a career-low 2.86 ERA, he is 0-3 with a 7.13 ERA in four postseason starts. Wainwright has allowed only one run in 17 2/3 postseason innings, most of those coming in 2006 when he served as Cardinals’ closer.

2. Experience. Not many stats stack up in St. Louis’ favor against Atlanta. It lost five of six regular-season games to the Braves, its 38-43 road record was the poorest of any NL playoff team and it was a dismal 21-26 in one-run games.

But the Cardinals have last year’s remarkable run to the World Series title to draw on. Only three players who started Game 7 of the World Series figure to be in the lineup, but the roster remains stocked with 2011 holdovers.

“It’s an advantage,” Matheny says. “To go through (a postseason), to see the atmosphere and to have the success these guys had last year is invaluable. They come to expect that from themselves and now they’re excited to see how far they can take it.”

CARDINALS’ X-FACTOR

The young shortstop. Furcal gave the Cardinals a big lift at shortstop in their run last fall, but his season ended in August because of an elbow injury. In his place has stepped up 24-year-old rookie Pete Kozma, the team’s first-round draft pick in 2007 who had done little to impress the club in six years in the minors. Given a chance to play, Kozma has gotten better and better. He hit .333 overall and was second on the club with 14 RBIs in September, and his defense has been more than serviceable.

“A pleasant surprise,” Matheny says.

KEYS FOR THE BRAVES

1. The leadoff hitter. When Michael Bourn is right, the Braves win. They went 57-16 when Bourn scored this season, 32-50 when he played and didn’t. The speedy center fielder did most of his scoring in the first half when he hit .311 and made the All-Star team. Bourn slumped to .225 after the break and missed time late in the season because of a thumb injury. After returning to the lineup for the season’s final four games, he reached base six times in 13 plate appearances.

2. The bullpen. With a 9-0 record and 0.91 ERA in 12 starts, Medlen has been the NL’s best starter since late July. But what separates the Braves’ pitching staff from the rest in the NL is their closer. Craig Kimbrel has been even more dominant than the Cincinnati Reds’ Aroldis Chapman.

“He throws almost as hard and his breaking ball is much better,” a scout says.

Kimbrel’s numbers are better, too. In 62 2/3 innings this season, the 5-11 righthander struck out 116 batters and allowed only 27 hits, a ratio of more than four strikeouts for every hit allowed. Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley is the only reliever ever to finish with a better WHIP than Kimbrel’s 0.65.

Unlike last season when Kimbrel—and the rest of Atlanta’s bullpen—wore down at season’s end, he is finishing strong. He went 10-for-10 in save chances and did not allow a run in September/October.

BRAVES X-FACTOR

The old man at the hot corner. Jones, 40, is set to retire after one of the game’s most memorable (and longest) farewell tours. As much as his teammates want to delay his send-off, their chances are much greater with him on the field. Jones has tired down the stretch, hitting .231 with only one homer since Sept. 1. But he has stayed relatively healthy. As he continued to show this season, Jones always has been able to find another level in big games.

PREDICTION

In a one-game playoff, shutdown pitching counts more than experience. Braves win 4-1.